Friday, January 25, 2013

Indoor Track Holds Onto Top Spot; Basketball Continues to Improve

As the winter sports season moves along through January, both our indoor track and basketball teams continue their different degrees of success.

The Providence Journal recently made note of the results of the second RI Track & field Foundation Coaches' Poll, which once again had our indoor track squad sitting atop the filed at #1. The Journal's story, and the state rankings, can be found here.

The basketball team split a pair of games earlier this week, dropping a tough one to an extremely talented and athletic Mount Pleasant team, 44-36, and then bouncing back with an impressive 53-38 win over Woonsocket. As the season and team have continued to progress, Coach Gomes once again points to our guys' willingness to work hard and play solid team defense as the key to the team's being able to compete down the stretch and into the playoffs.

In the game at Mount Pleasant, the Hawks clamped down on one of the leading scorers in the state, Jovel Bedeford, holding him to 11 points. Kazre Cummings and Ryan Hagerty led the way offensively, scoring 14 and 9 points respectively. Hagerty had one of his best all-round games to date as he added 8 rebounds to his night's totals. His hard work was also complemented nicely by Matt Duffy's, who played solid and efficient minutes throughout the game.

In the end, though, it was the Hawks' shooting, both outside and at the foul stripe, that was their undoing. Coach Gomes continues to stress that the team must improve in both areas.

The victory over Woonsocket was truly an impressive team defensive effort. The 53-38 win was primarily sparked by the 20 steals tallied by the entire team, 11 of them coming from Matt Duffy. The Hawks' toughness inside also came through in their 32 team rebounds and 36 points in the paint.

The Hawks were once again led by Hagerty and Cummings. Hagerty contributed 13 points, grabbed 8 of the rebounds and even two of the steals. Kazre added 9 points, 3 assists, and 4 steals, while Tavares, Duffy, and Coustard all finished with eight points each. Parmlee also had 7 points and 6 of the team's boards.

The Hawks play at Smithfield tonight, and on Monday will take on LaSalle at home in one of the bigger games of the year. As of right now, that game is scheduled to be broadcast live here on the Hawks Sports Network, as is Saturday night's hockey game against Mount St. Charles from Thayer Arena.